Pressure's on for Heat coach Spoelstra

Erik Spoelstra's grace period ended Tuesday, exactly one quarter into the Heat's season.

The Spoelstra Watch was unofficially launched on Twitter as fan after fan called for Spoelstra's head after watching one of the most star-studded starting lineups in NBA history produce nine points in the first quarter. Miami wound up losing to the Celtics, 88-80.

"Spoelstra out by halftime," predicted one tweeter.

"Riley letting Spoelstra coach early games so it doesn't hurt his win percentage," tweeted another, referring to team president Pat Riley, who some predict will end up coaching the team.

No one in the NBA has more pressure on him than Spoelstra, the baby-faced third-year coach whose Heat carries a 2-1 record into today's game against the Nets in Newark. Spoelstra, 39, has been charged with turning what is basically an All-Star roster into a championship team, and doing it as fast as possible.

It's hard to feel too sorry for a guy who has LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but he isn't in the easiest position.

If the Heat comes up big this season, he will be seen as someone who lucked into a great job, who just happened to be at the right place at the right time when Riley decided he wanted to stop coaching two years ago.

And if the Heat struggles? He will become the coaching version of a starter wife, as Paul Westhead was with the Showtime Lakers or Doug Collins was with Michael Jordan's Bulls.

His players realize the pressure that their coach is under but believe he can deal with it.

"No job is ever easy for a head coach in the NBA," Bosh said "Managing a lot of talent is tough, trying to figure out how to spread the ball, make sure we continue to play as a team and instill a team work ethic is difficult. I know coach Spo has a very difficult job, but he's taken to it very well."

Several hours before the season opener, Spoelstra acknowledged the pressure but said it's something that everyone on the team feels. "I welcome it. We all welcome it," he said. "We're not running away from the attention or expectations or the pressure. I've said it before, I think it's good. I think all of those things enhance your focus and commitment to each other. I think we've grown closer as a group because we feel like we're getting attacked from all sides."

That circle-the-wagons mentality is vintage Riley, who has been a huge influence on Spoelstra.

The son of Jon Spoelstra - a former executive with a number of teams, including the Nets - Spoelstra grew up a basketball junkie. After starting at point guard for four years at the University of Portland, he spent two years as a player-coach in Germany. The Heat hired him as its video coordinator in 1995.

Riley has joked that it took two years for him to learn his name, but slowly he began giving Spoelstra more and more responsibility. Spoelstra eventually became an assistant coach and then was in charge of scouting. He worked closely with Wade early in his career, and the two remain very close.

When Riley decided his coaching days were done and told Spoelstra he was taking over, the Heat was coming off a 15-win season in 2007-08. When Spoelstra met with Micky Arison before taking the job, the owner knew him only as the kid who made the great Christmas videos.

His lack of a big name doesn't bother his big-name players. Wade said Spoelstra has an inner confidence that rubs off on everybody.

Said Wade: "I don't think he's worried about the outside view. Once I see him confident and not worried about things, then it makes me even more confident. He understands that I love to play for him. He's the only coach I want to play for. Hopefully, when I leave this game, he's touted as one of the best coaches the NBA has seen in a long time."